Removable brush roll for vacuum cleaners



March 19, 1957 L. w. PARDEE REMOVABLE BRUSH ROLL FOR VACUUM CLEANERS 2 Sheets-Sheei'I 1- Filed Sept. 22. 1953 March 19, 1957 L. w. PARDEE REMOVABLE BRUSH ROLL FOR VACUUM CLEANERS Filed Sept. 22. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Lloyd 'V Prdee BY fk5? ATTORNEYS United States Patent "O REMVABLE BRUSH RLL FOR VACUU CLEANERS Lloyd W. Pardee, Lakewood, Ohio,` assigner to The Scott & Fetzer Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 22, i953, Serial No. 381,647

7 Claims. (Cl. 15--368) This invention relates to a combined suction nozzle and brush for vacuum cleaners and more particularly to a nozzle having a detachable carpet engaging shoe upon which a vertically adjustable rotary brush is mounted.

According to the present invention the suction nozzle is provided with a carpet engaging shoe that is hinged along its side edge to the nozzle body and that provides a mounting for the rotary brush. The hinged shoe is provided at its ends with spring arms that frictionally engage the end Walls of the nozzle to hold the shoe in place and with an easily detachable latch on the free swinging side of the shoe opposite the hinge to assist the spring arms in holding the shoe against the nozzle body. The latch may be easily released and the shoe swung about its hinge to expose the rotary brush and its mounting means. The brush is rotatably supported at its ends by the spring arms of the shoe so as to be bodily swingable thereon into and out of the nozzle. The brush and an encircling driving belt are easily removed from the shoe when it has been swung out from the nozzle to expose the brush by springing the arms apart since the brush is laterally unconned when the arms are spread apart.

The suction nozzle has an Lipper fan shaft receiving portion and a lower po-rtion formed to provide an elongated open bottom brush chamber that receives the brush cylinder. An endless belt extending around the fan shaft and the central portion of the brush cylinder rotates the brush and assists in holding the brush and the shoe in their proper position. .Each end of the brush cylinder is mounted for rotation in a bearing member which has a projection extending away from the brush cylinder into The downward movement is resisted only by the belt and lCoy the bristles of the brush engaging the oor when the vacuum cleaner is in operation.

An object of the present invention isto provide a simple and inexpensive means to adjust the vertical position of the rotary carpet-engaging brush of a vacuum cleaner.

A further object of the invention is to provide an m prof/ed means to support a brush ,driving belt in vertical "position so that it may be engaged by a manually operable belt shifter'.

Another object of the invention is to provide vibration dampening means on the rotary brush supports of a vacuum cleaner to reduce noise.

Other objects, uses, and advantages will become ap parent from the following description.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings 'forming a part of this speciiication in which:

2,785,431 Patented Mar. 19, 19,57

ICC

Figure l is a front elevation of a combined suction nozzle and brush embodying the invention, one end portion of the nozzle body being broken away and shown in section;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the center of the nozzle body taken on the line indicated at 2--2 in Fig. l;

Figure 3 is a vertical section through an end of the nozzle body taken on the line indicated at 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a plan View of the carpet engaging shoe as it appears when swung to a full open position about its hinged edge;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical section through the hinge taken on the line indicated at 5 5 in Fig. 4; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of one end of the nozzle and brush assembly as indicated at 66 in Fig. 3.

The combined nozzle and brush of the present invention is of a type in which the nozzle is attached at its upper end to a fan casing inlet and in which a rotary brush is mounted in the nozzle inlet and driven fromlhe end of the fan shaft which projects into the nozzle.

As herein shown, the nozzle body 1, which may be of the type adapted to be detachably secured to the inlet of the vacuum cleaner fan casing, has a lower portion formed to provide an elongated open bottom brush chatnber which has front and rear Walls 3 and 4 and end walls 5 the lower edges of which form the margins of the open bottom of the brush chamber. A carpet engaging shoe 6 is mounted on the lower end of the nozzle and this shoe is provided with a marginal upwardly facing channel '7 that receives the lower edges of the walls 3, 4 and 5, the circumferentially continuous outer marginal flange 8 of the marginal channel being closely spaced from and surrounding the outer faces of the walls 3, 4 and 5. At the ends of the shoe the inner anges of the marginal channel 7 have upwardly extending spring metal arms 9. The lower portions of the arms 9 are substantially upright and the upper end portions lil thereof are bowed outwardly for frictional engagement with the interior of the end walls 5 of the brush chamber 2 to detachably retain the shoe on the nozzle body. The spring arms 9 also serve to support the ends of a brush roll or cylinder lll so that the brush cylinder is removable with the shoe from the brush chamber. The cylinder l1 has bristles l2 disposed in helical rows on longitudinally spaced portions of the cylinder. l Flhe bristle portions l2 re spaced apart axially to provide a central pulley portion 13 on the cylinder to receive a twisted endless driving belt 14 of rectangular cross section that is adapted to engage an end portion of a fan shaft 15 and to provide a driving connection from the fan shaft to the brush cylinder. The forward portion of the shaft l5 is formed to provide a belt pulley.

" Immediately beneath the pulley portion 13 of the brush cylinder the shoe 6 has a cross bar lo extendingbetwee'n the front and rear channels of the shoe and perpendicular thereto, the bar lo being in the form of an upwardly facing channel of a width to receive the belt 5.4 so that when the belt is detached from the fan shaft l5 it will drop into the channel of the bar i6 and be supported in upright position within the bar, the side flange of the channel preventing horizontal movement of the belt axially of the brush cylinder. The helically disposed bristles l preferably have gaps between the central pulley portion 13 and the ends of the brush cylinder 1i which provide spaces for bars or channels i7 connecting the front and rear channels of the Shoe o. The bottom faces of the bars 16 and 17 are flush with the bottom faces of the marginal chan `nel 7 of the shoe, providing additional supportfor the drawn by suction into the nozzle.

arsenal A U-shaped belt positioning and latching member 18 formed from a rectangular strip of sheet material havingY a width to lit between t1 c upright flanges of the channel bar 16 is lixed to said bar and held in upright position thereon by tongues 19 struck from the margin of said bar and bent to engage the upper surface ot member 18. A pair ol' alined rectangular slots 526 in the bar lr6 register with. a long slot 2i in the member i8 extending substantially thelength of the bar 16 to form a pair of air admission openings. Tongues 22 struck from the margin of the Slots 2) project through the slot El and are bent to engage the upper surface of the member 13 whereby lateral movement of said member is prevented. The member 1S is provided at its rearward end with an upwardly extending flexible belt positioning arm 23 which is adapted to engage. the interior of the rear wall i of the brush chamber, and is provided at its forward end with an upwardly extending llexible belt positioning and latching arm 24- which has an outwardly projecting latch portion adapted to enter an elongated horizontal slot Z in the front wall 3. The latch formed by slot 25 and the latch portion of the iiexible arm 24 detachably secures the for ward portion of shoe to the nozzle body 1.

The rear portion of, shoe o is hingedly connected to the rear wall 1i of the nozzle body by a pair ot' spaced hook-shaped attaching members 26 riveted to the bottom portion of the wall #l and extending outwardly through notches in the lower margin thereof. Each of the members 25 projects through a horizontal slot in the marginal flange 3 to form a hinge which holds the rear portion of shoe t5 in the closed position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and which permits swinging of the shoe and the parts carried thereby approximately 189 to a full open position as shown in 4.

A flexible, deformable sealing strip or gasket 27 is provided in the marginal channel '7 throughout the length thereof to prevent leakage oi air between the shoe 6 and the walls or" the nozzle body during operation of the vacuum cleaner. The gasket 27 may be formed of any suitable material so as to substantially lill 'the marginal channel 7 and form a deformable surface that will provide an cilfective seal. lt is preferable to employ a resilient or rubberlike sealing material of a nature that may be `iolded form an endless strip which lits and substantially lills the channel 7". As herein shown, the strip or gasket is, molded as a single piece of flexible and elastic rubberlike plastic which is resilient and deformable and which forms an effective seal when interposed between the .marginal channel 7 and the bottoms of the walls 3, 4i,

and 5. The strip 27 is preferably formed with transverse portions 2.3 which engage the bottoms of channels 1'7. The friction between the sealing strip 2'? and channels 7 and 17 is sutlicient to hold said strip in engagement with the shoev when the shoe is inverted. However, a suitable adhesive may be employed for this purpose if desired.

The attaching members 36 and the flexible latching arm 2li assist the spring arms 9 and. belt 14 in supporting the Shoe d and .in holding the strip 27 in scaling engagement with' the marginal channel 7 and the bottom edges of the walls 3, 4, and 5.

ln order to remove the shoe and brush unit from the nozzel body 1, it is necessary to free the brush driving belt 14 from the ian shaft 15 and in reassembling, it is necessary to re-engage the belt with the fan shaft. lu order to facilitate the assembly and disassembly, a belt si' ting and supporting device of the type disclosed in MacFarland Patent No. 2,538,464, granted January 16, i951, is employed. in combination with means 16 and 18 carried by the shoe 6 for supporting the belt in an upright position upon assembly of the belt, brush, and shoe with the nozzle where can be engaged by the belt shifting device and moved to a position to receive the .fan shaft.

The belt placing device comprises a plate 29 rotatably mounted in an opening 'in the front wall of the nozzle of the body 1. The plate 29 is provided with peripheral shoulders 30 that engage a stop pin 31 to limit turning movement of the plate, and the plate is provided with an outwardly projecting handle 32 by means of which it may be turned.

Projecting from the inner side of the plate 29 into the nozzle body 1 is a belt engaging arm 33 that is provided with a front inner portion 34 which closely overlies the shaftv 15 when the arm 33 is in its uppermost position, and a rear outer portion 35 that extends laterally and radially outwardly with respect to the inner portion and which. tapers toward its outer end. The arm 33 at one.

limit of movement has its inner portion 3d positioned to closely overlie the shaft l5, and at its opposite limit of movement is positioned below the shaft 15 and laterally clear of the` belt 14. The outer belt engaging face of the arm 33 is convex and the inner face is concave, the concave face of the inner portion of the arm lying closely adjacent the top of the shaft i6 when the arm is moved to its uppermost position.

When the cylinder 11 is mounted on the shoe 6 for nscrtion into thel brush chamber 2 of the nozzle, the belt 14 is supported in the channel 16 and projects upwardly above the top of the cylinder lll. The brush is inserted intro the chamber by swinging the shoe about its hinged rear edge. The arms 23 and 24 prevent the belt 14 from being pinched between the sides of the shoe and the bottom or' the nozzle during such swinging movement and assist in holding the belt upright. After the brush is inserted into the brush chamber the upper portion of the belt 14 is alongside the pointed 3S of the arm 33 so that when the plate 29 is turned the pointed end 35 of the arm will enter the belt 1e and engage the interior thereof. As the arm 33 swings to its uppermost position the tension of the belt shifts the belt inwardly to the inner portion 34 of the arm where it is in position to receive the fan shaft 15 when the nozzle is attached to the fan casing. To engage the belt with the shaft lo, the plate 30 is turned in the opposite direction to move the arm 33 lat crally out of engagement with the belt and permit the belt to engage with the fan shaft 15, and when the plate 29 is moved to its opposite limit of movement, the arm is positioned entirely clear of the belt.

lldentical means are provided at each end or" the shoe 6 to detachably connect the brush cylinder 11 to the shoe for rotation with respect thereto and to adjust the vertical position of the shoe. A plug 36 is located at each end of the brush cylinder 11 to close the ends thereof. The outer portion of the plug is in the form of a bearing sleeve or annulus 37 which has a tight t in the cylinder 11 and rotates therewith, and the inner portion of the plug is in the form of a disc 38 which is centrally apertured to receive a non-rotatable supporting shaft 39 that projects from each end of cylinder 11. An annular attaching member 40 is provided at each end of the cylinder 11 and has an outwardly projecting portion 41 of substantially rectangular cross section, a cup-shaped cover portion 42, and an inwardly projecting bearing supporting portion 43. A, suitable ball bearing 44 is provided between the supporting portion 43 and the attaching member 40 and the annulus 37 of the plug 36 to support the brush cylinder for rotation with respect to the attaching member. A sealing ring 45 of felt or the like is provided between the bearing and the plug to keep out dirt or other foreign material. The inner race of the bearing 44 is preferably `fixed to the portion 43 of the attaching member whereby the bearing and plug may be easily slid on or off the end of the shaft 39V as a unit. The projecting portions 41 of. the attaching members are mounted for vertical sliding movement with respect to the spring arms 9 to permit vertical adjustments. As herein shown each arm 9 is provided with a vertically elongated rectangular slot or recess 46 which is adapted to receive the projection 41 so as to guide the brush cylinder vertically. The brush roll assembly, including the cylinder 11 and the attaching members 40, is conined laterally only by the edges of the slots 46. A plastic cup 47 shaped to conform to the contour of the portion 4i covers the end of the attaching member 40 and the shaft 39 and Vslidingly `engages the vertical side edges of the slot 46 to dampen vibrations. The cup 47 may be slid vertically from the top to the bottom of the .slot iits during adjustment of the brush roll 11 but substantial axial movement thereof is prevented by the end walls 5. j t

Suitable adjusting means is provided to llimit upward movement of the attaching members dit with respect to the spring arms 9 without restraining downward movement thereof. it is preferable to provide adjusting screws between the spring arms and the attaching members to perform this function. As herein shown, each arm 9 is formed with an inwardly projecting stop 43 that engages the upper end of a vertical adjusting screw 49. The adjusting screw is received by Vcircular openings in the plastic cup Wand the supporting shaft 39 and by internal threads in the projection 41. A slotted head Si) or other suitable means is provided to facilitate turning of the .screw when a vertical adjustment is desirable due to wear of the bristles 12 or for other reasons.

When the brush cylinder il is in normal operating position, the endless belt id forms the sole mechanism for restraining downward movement of the attaching members d in the .slots 46 of the spring arms. The supporting force exerted by the belt tends to hold the screws 49 against the stops 4S and to hold the plastic sealing strip 27 in sealing engagement with the nozzle body l. The belt is preferably elastic and sutiiciently extensible to permit the brush to be adjusted downwardly to the desired operating position.

The combined suction nozzle and shoe of the present invention is particularly advantageous since the brush roll may beV easily removed or replaced, and may be easily adjusted. The latch yat 26 is readily released and the brush roll is easily removed by freeing the belt lll from the fan shaft 15 and by pulling'down the front end of the shoe 6 and swinging the shoe about its hinged edge to the fully open position. Since the attaching members were not fastened to the arms 9, and since the projecting portions 41 and the cups 47 project axially only a vshortdistance into the slots 46 and are limited in their lateral movements only by the slots 46, the brush roll assembly including the brush cylinder 11 and the attaching members 4h may easily be removed from the shoe 6 by springing the arms 9. If desired, the belt 14 may then be removed from the brush roll. The slots 46 in the two arms 9 and the attaching members sliding therein are preferably made of unequal widths to insure proper assembly of the brush roll. This is very desirable where a twisted belt, such as belt 14, is employed since such a belt is normally displaced slightly from the center of the brush cylinder requiring the bristles at opposite ends of the brush cylinder to be of different lengths. Figure 4, which is drawn to scale, illustrates the slightly off-center position of the cross bar 16 which prevents reversal of the cylinder 11 in the particular construction shown.

The nozzle body 1 is preferably provided with a rubber bumper 51 which extends around the front and end walls 3 and 5 and is attached to the rear wall 4 by rivets 52 or other suitable attaching means. The bumper l projects forwardly beyond the marginal flange S to protect the shoe 6 and also serves to cover the hole formed by the slot 25. A shoulder S3 extends throughout the length of the fron-t and end walls 3 and 5 and is adapted to engage the Itop of the bumper to prevent vertical movement thereof, downward movement of the bumper being limited by the marginal flange S which is normally spaced only a short distance from the lower edge of the bumper.

It is to be understood that in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, variations and modifications of the specific devices herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

L1A combination suction nozzle and brush for vacuum cleaners vcomprising a nozzle body having an upper farishaft-receiving portion and a lowerv portion defining yari elongated downwardly opening brush chamber, a carpet engaging shoe normally disposed horizontally across the opening of said downwardly 'opening brush chamber, a hinge connecting one side of said shoe to said nozzle body at one side of said opening for swinging the shoe downwardly away from the opening, a brush cylinder rotatably mounted on said shoe and normally disposed in said chamber for movement out of the chamber when said shoe is swung downwardly about said hinge, said cylinder having an intermediate, circumferential, belt receiving portion, an endless belt disposed about said portion of said cylinder and adapted to extend upwardly into said fan-shaft-receiving portion of the nozzle body for driven relationship with a fan shaft therein, a manually operable belt shifting mechanism mounted in said nozzle body above said cylinder for engaging said belt when slack and shifting it into taut driven relationship with said fan shaft, 'a belt supporting means comprising an upwardly opening Vchannel member carried by said shoe and extending transversely with respect to said cylinder immediately beneath the belt receiving portion thereof, latch means carried by said shoe for normally detachably connecting the side of said shoe opposite said hinge to the nozzle body, said latch means having a belt engageable portion normally extending upwardly from said channel in alinement therewith within said chamber, said belt engageable portion being disposed for cooperation with said channel in supporting said belt when slack so that it extends upwardly from said cylinder into said nozzle for engagement by said belt shifting mechanism.

2.. A. combination suction nozzle and brush for vacuum cleaners comprising a nozzle body having an upper fanshaft-receiving portion and a lower portieri defining an elongated downwardly opening brush chamber, a carpet engaging shoe normally disposed horizontally across the opening of said downwardly opening brush chamber, a hinge connecting one side of said shoe to said nozzle body at one side of said opening for swinging the shoe downwardly away from the opening, a brush cylinder rotatably mounted on said shoe and normally disposed in said chamber for movement out of the chamber when said shoe is swung downwardly about said hinge, said cylinder having an intermediate, circumferential, belt receiving portion, an endless belt disposed about said portion of said cylinder and adapted to extend upwar ly into said fan-shaft-receiving portion of the nozzle: body for driven relationship with a fan shaft therein, a manually operable belt shifting mechanism mounted in said nozzle body above said cylinder for engaging said beit when slack and shifting it into taut driven relationship with said fan shaft1 belt supporting means comprising a U-shaped member carried by the shoe and straddling said cylinder in spaced alinement with the belt receiving portion thereof, the centrai portion 'of said belt supporting means being disposed directly beneath the belt receiving portion of said cylinder and its legs extending upwardly on opposite sides of said cylinder for engaging the belt when slacli and supporting it so that it extends upwardly from said cylinder into said nozzle for engagement by said belt shifting mechanism.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which one of the legs of said belt supporting means on the side of said shoe opposite said hinge detachably engages said nozzle body for holding the shoe against the nozzle body in its normally horizontal position across said elongated opening.

4. A combination suction nozzle and brush for vacuum cleaners comprising a hollow suction nozzle body having front, rear, and end walls defining an elongated downwardly opening brush chamber, an elongated, rigid, carpet engaging shoe, a pair of resilient arms attached to said shoe adjacent its ends and extending upwardly into said chamber, said arms being liexible longitudinally of said shoe and pressing outwardly against the inner faces of the dit body tov reieasably secure the Sha@ against the bQttom @das Qf Said body @ver the opening into said chamber, a rotatable cylindrical brush in said'chamber extending axially between said arms, means for detachably mounting said brush on said arms comprising vertically elongated. sockets in said' arms, an axial projection from the ends of said brush extending into said sockets for vertical movement therein while being restrained thereby against horizontal movement, each projection being releasable from its socket by relative outward flexing of said arms whenl the shoe is removed from against said body for detaching the brush from the arms, means for vertically adjusting, the position of the b rush including vertically extending adjusting screws on said projections and abutments on said arms engaged by the. upper ends of said screws to adjustably limit upward movement of said projections in said sockets without restraining downward movement thereof, and an endless belt extending about said brush and upwardly into said chamber for engagement with a fan shaft to rotate said brush and support it with said screws engaging said abutments.

5. The combination of claim 4 including non-metallic cushioning cups mounted on said projections so as to be disposed between the projectionsl and the portions of said arms deiining said sockets to dampen vibration of the brush during rotation by said belt.

6. A carpet engaging shoe and brush unit for vacuum cleaners adapted for attachment to` a downwardly opening suction nozzle, said unit comprising an elongated, normally horizontally disposed, carpet engaging shoe having a pair of spring arms adjacent its opposite ends, said spring arms extending upwardly from the shoe and being relatively outwardly exible, a rotatable brush extending axially between said arms, brush attaching members secured to said brush at its opposite ends for rotation relative thereto about the axis of the brush, each arm and adjacent brush attaching member being provided, one with a vertically elongated socket and the other with a pro jection disposed in the socket to rotatably mount the brush on the shoe for detachment by relative outward iexing of the arms, said projections being vertically slidable in said sockets but being restrained thereby against relativeA horizontal movement, abutments on said arms, andy vertically extending4v adjusting screws on said attaching members having their upper ends directed toward and engageable with said abutments for adjustablylimiting upward movement of said brush relative to said shoe without restraining reverse relativeA movement thereof when said brush is urged upwardly by a taut endless belt disposed about the brush and extending upwardly therefrom over a driving shaft for connecting the same in driven and driving relationship.

7. A carpet engaging shoe and brush unit for vacuum cleaners adapted for attachment to a downwardly opening suction nozzle, said unit comprising an elongated, normally horizontally disposed, carpet engaging shoe having a pair of spring arms adjacent its opposite ends, said spring arms extending upwardly from the shoe and being relatively outwardly flexible, a rotatable brush hav.- ing attaching members at its opposite ends on which it is relatively rotatable about the axis of the brush, the brush extending axially between said arms and being mounted thereon by engagement of said attaching mem bers respectively with the arms, means connecting each attaching member to its associated arm for vertical move.- ment relative thereto and for restraining the attaching member against horizontal movement relative to the arm in a direction normal to the brush axis, and adjustable means coacting between said attaching members and their associated arms to adjustably limit upward movement of the attaching members while permitting downward movement thereof relative to the arms when said brush is urged upwardly by an endless belt disposed about the brush and extending upwardly therefrom over a driving shaft for connecting the same in driven and driving relationship.

.References Cited in the le of this patent UNETED STATES PATENTS 1,091,383 Oblosser Mar. 24, 1914 2,039,860 Watts May 5, 1936 2,176,769 Martinet Oct. 17, 1939 2,239,762 Taylor Apr. 29, 1941 2,657,417 Howard Nov. 3, 1953 2,668,979 MacFarland Feb. 16, 1954 

